No hosepipe ban despite drought

THERE are no plans to bring in a hosepipe ban despite a drought being officially confirmed across the region.

Severn Trent Water said it currently predicts no restrictions on water usage will be brought in this year.

This is despite the Environment Agency confirming today (Monday) that Solihull and the rest of the Midlands is in drought.

Severn Trent is also considering plans to sell water to Anglian Water which would see them trade 30 million litres of raw water per day, enough to supply 100,000 homes.

Last year was the driest on record with a second winter of below average rainfall and just over 40 per cent average rainfall in February and March.

This has left groundwater and river levels low and the Environment Agency is concerned about the impact this could have on the environment such as wildlife and wetlands.

Paul Crockett, Midlands drought manager, said: "The whole of the Midlands is now in drought, reflecting the impact of the extremely dry last 18 months on the environment.

"We are already seeing early impacts on the environment and a dry summer will make this worse.

"We are appealing to everyone to use water wisely."

The Environment Agency is working to help farmers top up their storage reservoirs to ensure they have supplies for the summer while they have also given advice on how to conserve water and announced new measures to protect important wildlife sites.

Doug Clarke, Severn Trent water efficiency manager, said the region has one of the lowest levels of water consumption per head in the UK.

He said: "Our year-round message remains the same - use water wisely as part of your everyday life. If we are all careful with the amount of water we use then we won’t have to take as much from the environment."